speaking up, speaking out

excerpt from the souls of black girls

Producer, Daphne S. Valerius, cites her own experiences as a young girl struggling with her own identity and self worth as inspiration for this project. Valerius hoped of becoming a performing artist but because of her low self-esteem and lack of confidence she repressed these desires. Later on in life, as an accomplished scholar at St. Johns, Valerius, with the guidance of Dr. Lez Edmond, started a project entitled Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence: The Effects of Mass Media on Women of Color...Forgotten. This project would continue to develop over the years and while enrolled in the Journalism Master’s Program at Emerson College, Valerius expanded her undergraduate project into her master's thesis- The Souls of Black Girls.

Daphne Valerius

This documentary includes commentary from Regina King, Jada Pinkett Smith, Gwen Ifill, Chuck D, and Michaela Angela Davis as well as interviews with young women discussing their own self image and thoughts on the media. The project was created in the hopes of provoking dialogue amongst women of color- honest dialogue that would challenge all of us to reflect on our own relationships with the media, our representations, and our senses of self.

For more information: The Souls of Black Girls.